Stock derivatives and seasoned equity offerings

PurposeThe article aims to explore if stock derivative types (stock options and stock warrants) are associated with stock returns for firms undergoing seasoned equity offerings (SEOs).Design/methodology/approachThe authors regress stock returns against stock derivatives for periods around SEO announcements with standard errors clustered at the month level.FindingsThe authors find that lower stock derivatives holdings for the fiscal year after the SEO are associated with superior pre-SEO returns. This can be explained by owners exercising their derivatives to capitalize on the pre-SEO price run-up. The authors find that greater stock option holdings by insiders for the fiscal year after the SEO are associated with superior post-SEO returns for up to ten years after the SEO announcement. This new finding does not hold for stock warrants.Research limitations/implicationsStock derivatives are supplied by Capital IQ. Given their description, the authors infer that stock options are owned largely by insiders. Thus, the insider conclusions for stock options depend on this implication.Practical implicationsStock options and stock warrants can be used strategically to reward stock derivative owners of strong performing firms for past performance. Stock options can be used to motivate insiders (primarily key executives) to achieve superior future performance.Originality/valueThis study is unique in comparing the influence of holdings for stock options and stock warrants on stock price performance around SEOs. The authors show that the sign of the association depends on whether the test includes pre-SEO periods.

The effect of investor sentiment and the structure of shareholder ownership on corporate investment

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relations amongst investor sentiment, the structure of shareholder ownership and corporate investment.Design/methodology/approach This paper develops a theoretical model, proposes hypotheses based on the predictions of the model and conducts empirical tests. The primary method is panel regression with fixed effects. The sample covers the US data for the period between 1980 and 2018.Findings This paper finds that firms with a higher proportion of retail investors invest more than otherwise similar firms. In the low-sentiment periods, the financially constrained firms invest less than the non-financially constraint firms. The positive effect of residual retail ownership on the investment level is higher for firms with a higher idiosyncratic risk.Practical implications The results suggest that larger share ownership of the relatively informed institutional investors may serve as a mechanism that could reduce the degree of overinvestment caused by higher investor sentiment and the over-optimistic of the relatively uninformed investors.Originality/value This paper provides an incremental theoretical and empirical contribution to the relations amongst investor sentiment, corporate investment and the structure of shareholder ownership.

The impact of institutional factors on corporate mechanism of cash adjustment – New evidence from emerging Asia

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to understand how the business environment of a country has an impact on cash management policies of the firms and also to investigate if there is any asymmetry in cash adjustment dynamics when a firm deviates from its long-term target of cash holdings.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of seven emerging Asian countries in the period 2001–2019, the authors investigate the role of country specific variables in the corporate cash holdings and their cash adjustment mechanism. They use the panel data regression method to estimate the results.FindingsThe authors find that the overall financial development of a country has a significant impact on corporate cash holdings and cash adjustment dynamics. When a firm has excess cash, the speed of adjustment towards the target is faster as compared to when it has deficit cash holdings. Further, when a firm holds excess cash, it adjusts towards the target using cash from investments; in case of deficit cash holdings, the adjustment happens via cash from financing activities.Practical implicationsThe results of the study are helpful to corporate managers as these are important references to them to understand and design cash management policies by considering factors that are measured at the country level. It also provides them a clearer understanding about the role of corporate board and information asymmetry in cash holdings.Originality/valueThis is the first study which examines the role of country-specific variables on corporate cash holdings and their adjustment mechanism of firms in emerging Asia. Further, the study extends the literature by providing new evidence that there is asymmetry in cash adjustment dynamics of firms after controlling for the overall financial development of a country.

The impact of natural disasters on the performance and solvency of US banks

PurposeThis paper explores the effect of natural disasters on the profitability and solvency of US banks.Design/methodology/approachEmploying a sample of 187 large-scale natural disasters that occurred in the United States between 2000 and 2014 and a sample of 2,891 banks, we examine whether and how disaster-related damages affect various measures of bank profitability and bank solvency. We differentiate between different types of banks (with local, regional and national operations) based on a breakdown of their state-level deposits and explore the reaction of these banks to damages weighted by the GDP of the states they operate in.FindingsWe find that natural disasters have a pronounced effect on the net-income-to-assets and the net-income-to-equity ratio of banks, as well as the banks' impaired loans and return on average assets. We also observe significant effects on the equity ratio and the tier-1 capital ratio (two solvency measures). Interestingly, the latter are positive for regional banks which appear to benefit from increased customer deposits related to safekeeping, government payments for post-disaster recovery, insurance payouts and decreased withdrawals, while they are significantly negative for banks that operate locally or nationally.Originality/valueWe contribute to the literature by offering various new insights regarding the effects natural disasters have on financial institutions. With climate change-driven natural disasters widely expected to increase both in terms of frequency and severity, their economic fallout is likely to impose an increasing burden on financial institutions. Large, nationally operating banks tend to be well diversified both geographically and in terms of their product offerings. Small, locally operating banks, however, are increasingly at risk – particularly if they operate in disaster-prone areas. Current banking regulations generally do not factor natural disaster risks into their capital requirements. To avoid the next big financial crisis, regulators may want to adjust their reserve requirements by taking this growing risk exposure into consideration.

Debt structure: a solution to the puzzle of capital structure

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the relation between debt structure and future external financing and investment. Furthermore, it aims to analyze the association between debt structure and future financial performance.Design/methodology/approachVolume, maturity, possessing collateral and having priority at the settlement date are the dimensions of debt structure that have been employed in this paper. The sample consists of 1,060 firm-year observations from Tehran Stock Exchange corporations during the period 2009–2018.FindingsThe findings reveal that greater reliance on financial leverage (debt volume) and short-term debt are associated with increases in future debt financing as well as future equity financing. Moreover, these two dimensions of debt structure are positively related to future investment. This paper also shows that the positive impact of financial leverage and short-term debt on future financing and investment can finally lead to a favorable financial performance. Regarding other dimensions of debt structure, the results suggest that although collateralized debt with the priority option at the settlement date enhances future external financing, this type of debt can ultimately lead to a reduction in future investment and financial performance. Finally, the findings indicate that uncollateralized debt exacerbates future financial performance.Research limitations/implicationsFinancial performance can be affected by several factors, including available funds, investment amount, investment efficiency and managerial capability. However, this paper only considers the investment amount and external financing as the channels through which debt structure improves future financial performance. This study has the potential to contribute to one of the most important issues in finance and business fields, despite its probable trivial drawbacks.Practical implicationsFinancing strategies as one of the most controversial topics have been meticulously scrutinized in this paper and practical implications are made to facilitate the process of decision-making regarding the optimal type of debt financing.Originality/valueThis study extends the literature by analyzing the direct link between debt structure and firm performance in firms domiciled in developing markets.

Corporate risk-taking after changes in credit rating

PurposeThe paper aims to investigate corporate risk-taking following changes in firms' credit ratings (CR) and the mechanisms the firms use in implementing the risk-taking.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs fixed-effect regression models to examine risk-taking behaviour after firms experience changes in CR after their ratings are downgraded to the lower edge of the investment grade rating (i.e. BBB-) and after their CRs are downgraded below the investment rating.FindingsThe paper finds that, whilst in general, changes in CR are negatively associated with post-event risk-taking, firms downgraded to BBB- do not increase their risk-taking. Only when firms are rated below this grade, firms significantly increase their risk-taking, suggesting that the association between downgrades in CR and firm risk-taking following the event is not linear. Further analysis suggests that these downgraded firms do not increase research and development (R&D) expenses or capital expenditures but employ long-term debt as their risk-taking mechanism.Practical implicationsThe findings of the paper have practical implications for investors considering investing in downgraded-rating firms to shareholders of such firms and especially to those overseeing the firms' risk-taking policies.Originality/valueThe study fills the gap in the literature by providing empirical evidence on corporate risk-taking after changes in CR and also contributes to the optimal debt-maturity choice literature.

Does corporate social responsibility transparency mitigate corporate cash holdings?

PurposeThis article aims to explore whether a firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR) transparency alleviates a firm's cash holdings.Design/methodology/approachCSR transparency ratings encompass both the quantity and the quality of CSR practices, as validated by Bloomberg. While based upon firm-specific disclosure, transparency ratings impound additional information gathered independently by Bloomberg and thus bridge the gap between CSR disclosure and CSR performance. The authors use ordinary least squares estimators, and the authors concentrate on a panel of S&P 500 index companies over the period of 2012–2018 to examine the effect of CSR transparency on corporate cash holdings.FindingsThe authors document that a higher level of CSR transparency induces a lower level of corporate cash holdings. Additional results imply that this negative relationship is more pronounced for firms suffering from high information asymmetry, with low financial reporting quality and for those with weak governance. Further analyses document that higher CSR transparency can help firms to enjoy lower cost of debt and to be less financially constrained, enabling high CSR transparent firms to obtain external financing more easily and at a lower cost, thus lowering the need to hoard cash. Ultimately, the study findings suggest that CSR transparency increases the market value relevance of an additional dollar in cash holdings.Originality/valueThe authors contribute to both research streams of CSR and corporate cash holdings as they provide evidence about the influence of CSR transparency as a monitoring and insurance-like mechanism on corporate cash holdings.

Stock returns, oil prices and leverage: evidence from US firms

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate how the relation between stock returns of US firms and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil prices is affected by leverage from 1990 to 2020.Design/methodology/approachThis paper examines how the relationship between stock returns of US firms and WTI oil prices is affected by leverage from 1990 to 2020 using a fixed-effect model estimation framework.FindingsResults from the fixed-effect regression models suggest that leverage effects on stock returns are pervasive both in aggregate and cross-industry levels, while the mining industry is more sensitive. In addition to the positive oil price effects attenuated by leverage at the aggregate level, the authors observe stronger marginal effects of leverage only for the mining sector. Being more exposed to commodity prices, the positive effects of oil prices on stock returns in the mining sector are offset by large debt ratios. Asymmetries, effects of debt maturity structure and implications are also discussed.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is grounded on the contemporary cash flow claim of leverage NOT on the long-run effect of leverage considering cash flow constraints. The oil price increase is assumed to represent an advancement of the overall economy. This study does not capture the oil prices response to some other economic forces and vice-versa.Practical implicationsMining companies should therefore reduce the stock of debt with respect to their assets to make possible the “pass-through” from oil prices to the stock market.Originality/valuePreviously undocumented and the authors show that leverage reduces the total effect of oil prices on stock returns, consistent with the hypothesis. Asymmetric and debt maturity structures effects are also discussed.

Corporate governance and innovation investment in publicly listed firms: the moderating effect of ownership type and legal jurisdiction

PurposeThe paper aims to examine the effect of corporate governance (CG) on innovation investment, with consideration of ownership types and legal jurisdictions.Design/methodology/approachThe authors' empirical analysis is based on a sample of publicly listed family businesses (FBs) from the top-500-list that matched worldwide with non-family counterparts from 2009 to 2018. The study uses a holistic measure of CG to mitigate the conflicting impact of individual CG components found in prior studies. This measure is applied to examine the moderating role of firm ownership type and legal jurisdiction.FindingsThe authors' results demonstrate that CG positively influences innovation investment. This positive relationship is more pronounced in FBs than in non-family businesses (NFBs) and is more prevalent in civil law economies than in common law economies.Originality/valueThe study holistically examines the effect of CG, capturing the combination of all individual governance mechanisms and their influence on innovation investment. The study further shows that comprehensive CG has diverse impacts on innovation investment when considering family control and legal jurisdiction.

Role of educational, regional and religious attributes of CEOs in performance of Indian family firms

PurposeThe authors investigate whether community-based CEO's attributes, particularly educational attainment, regional and religious affiliation, are direct antecedents of performance in family-controlled Indian firms. The authors further examine whether CEO's education moderates the linkage of firm performance with regional and religious affiliation.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ pooled Ordinary Least Square with fixed effects and Fama-Macbeth regression techniques to test their hypotheses.FindingsThe results reveal that firms with post-graduate CEOs in business and firms with doctorate CEOs, significantly outperform peer firms. The authors also find that CEOs from northern India outperform peer CEOs consistently which emanates from the risk-taking differentials of CEO's across regions. Hindu CEOs also deliver superior return on assets. However, CEO's educational attainment moderates the influence of regional and religious affiliations.Originality/valueThis study is unique as it contributes on the role of regional affiliation of top executives in determining performance which almost remains unexplored in existing literature.